


Chemistry

by CaffeineDream



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bars and Pubs, F/F, Fluff, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-30 11:32:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6422242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeineDream/pseuds/CaffeineDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke hadn’t wanted to get a tutor. She was pretty smart and did well in all her classes, but when her professor handed back her midterm and she saw the D- her resolve faltered. What is she supposed to do when she notices how hot (and intimidating) her chemistry tutor is?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Tutor

**Author's Note:**

> Modern AU - Clarke and Lexa are university students and Clarke needs Lexa to help her pass chemistry.  
> Slow burn, fluff and mutual pining.  
> 

Clarke hadn’t wanted to get a tutor. She was pretty smart and did well in all her classes, but when her professor handed back her midterm and she saw then D- her resolve faltered. So she partied a little too much in university sometimes, but she always pulled through before. But chemistry is hard, and her mom had high expectations of her. So when her professor gave her the name of one of her upper year students that offers tutoring for the class Clarke had signed up. That was how she ended up sitting in an empty class room at 7pm on a Tuesday across from one of the most intimidating women she had ever seen. Clarke had no idea why this woman seemed so imposing, she was actually quite average in size and kind of skinny. She had blue green eyes with just enough eyeliner to draw attention to them and long tangled brown hair. She looked at Clarke with the coolest gaze and had an air of calmness about her that made Clarke slightly uncomfortable. 

“So um I thought I knew what I was doing but it turns out I suck at chemistry… which is weird because I do pretty well in all my other classes but sometimes they throw formulas in there and um my professor recommended you to me….” Clarke was babbling and she knew it. Trouble is she didn’t really know what to say to the tutor sitting across from her. 

“Don’t worry Clarke, I have tutored a 5 students for this class before and they all did well. We will start with a review of the first three chapters and then take a look at your midterm.”

They sat for the next two hours and Clarke’s tutor, who had introduced herself as Lexa, lectured Clarke on chemicals and compounds, acids and bases. Clarke spent the whole time trying to keep up and pay attention. It didn’t help that the girl wasn’t particularly lively about the subject. When Clarke asked her if she liked chemistry Lexa replied no, but she was good at it so she tutored. Clarke later found out that Lexa was a psychology major, and while Clarke was in Biology they both had to take chemistry as part of their programs. Lexa when through and explaining the correct answer for all of Clarke’s mistakes on her midterm which hurt Clarke’s pride a little. This Lexa girl seemed to know everything and was incredibly cool and collected next to Clarke. 

Finally when their session was done Lexa suggested they exchange numbers to arrange their next session. When Clarke handed her phone over she couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed that Lexa would see the picture of her doing a keg stand that was her current screen saver. 

_She probably thinks that’s why I need tutoring, because I party too much and study too little, or maybe because I killed too many brain cells drinking. ___

After their tutoring session Clarke kept seeing Lexa all around the school. She would pass her in the hallways on the way to her classes, or notice her studying in the coffee shop on campus. Everywhere she looked it seemed Lexa was there, always studying or looking the other way. Clarke started to notice that Lexa would bite the tip of her pencil when she was thinking, how she always had good posture and favored leather jackets and black boots. 

Sitting in a coffee shop one day sipping ice-capps between classes Raven caught Clarke staring.

“Hello? Earth to Clarke? What is so interesting over there? I’ve been trying to tell you about how Octavia told me that Professor Jaha tripped over his own laptop’s power cord in the middle of lecture. Octavia says he landed on his face and it was probably a sign from the people in the City of Light to end the religion class early. Clarke? Don’t you think that’s funny?”

Clarke had tuned Raven out and was blatantly staring at Lexa who was obliviously biting the tip of her pencil between glances at a laptop and scribbling on her note pad. What was she studying? Did she still think Clarke was an idiot? Clarke was just thinking about how she should probably text her to arrange their next tutoring session when Raven waved her hand in front of her face and said a little too loudly

“Clarke! Would you stop staring at that girl and maybe engage in the conversation at hand?”

Clarke quickly tore her eyes away from Lexa but not before Lexa looked over to see the cause of the disturbance. Clarke could feel her cheeks reddening as Lexa looked over until she turned back to her notebook. 

“What was all that about? You were turning redder than Monty did when Jasper pantsed him.”

Clarke finally lifted her eyes from the table to look at Raven. “That’s just my chemistry tutor. I was just zoned out."

“Yea right” Raven smirked. “You were straight up staring at her with a dreamy look in your eyes. I’d say you two have chemistry all right.”

“Shut up Raven, I gotta go to class all right? I’ll see you later.”

Raven smirked and pulled out her phone, probably to text Octavia about Clarke’s blushing while Clarke grabbed her bag and got up to go to her next class. As she turned to go she stole a glance at her chemistry tutor before leaving the café. Lexa was still buried in her notes, oblivious to Clarke once again. Her blue green eyes caught the sunlight and her hair cascaded down her back, tucked behind one ear while she studied. _Raven was right, I am staring at her. What the hell, Clarke, she’s your chemistry tutor and a little bit intimidating at that. She probably thinks you’re just some party animal and Raven just made you look even worse in front of her._ Clarke knew her next chemistry session would not be fun but for some reason the thought of being so close to Lexa again gave her little butterflies in her stomach. _I’ll text her later about setting up our next session. Hopefully she didn’t notice me staring._


	2. Sky Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Clarke have their second tutoring session. Lexa thinks Clarke's drawings are beautiful and names her sky girl for always having her head in the clouds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 enjoy!

Clarke had her next tutoring session at the same time next week. At 7pm on Tuesday she walked into the same empty classroom to find Lexa already sitting inside with all of her books set out and ready, waiting for her. 

“Clarke” she said and the blonde walked in the room. Lexa was careful and composed as always. Clarke smiled at her as she walked across the room to sit down. Clarke began pulling out her notes and pens and once her stuff was all set out and Lexa had flipped to the right chapter in the textbook she looked at Clarke again. 

“Shall we begin?” Lexa said in a steady voice. Clarke nodded. Lexa always seemed overly formal to Clarke. The way she spoke was different, always so well thought out, controlled even. Clarke found it curious and wondered why Lexa always seemed so carefully collected. 

Lexa began explaining the latest material to Clarke, flipping through the pages to show her diagrams, highlighting certain points. Clarke politely paid attention, all the while trying to puzzle Lexa out in her mind. Lexa obviously had some pretty high walls around her to keep people from getting too close. Clarke alternated between listening to Lexa’s explanations and musing in her mind as to why Lexa always seemed so formal.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lexa sat across from the blonde and watched her carefully as she explained chemistry to her. The session passed by slowly it seemed and at the end of it Lexa noticed that Clarke seemed slightly distant to her. She seemed to still be paying attention but something else was on her mind. Lexa decided to test how well the blonde was paying attention and asked her if her professor had started on the next section of the chapter. 

The question seemed to bring Clarke out of her thoughts and she began flipping through her own notebook to check if her lectures had started on the topic. 

Clarke furrowed her brow as she thought back to her lectures. “Um I don’t think so, let me check.” 

As she flipped through the notes Lexa noticed the many sketches within the book. Some were small sketches in the margins of Clarke’s notes, others were larger drawings taking up an entire page between the pages of writing. When Clarke flipped to the most recent page on the other side of it Lexa could see a full paged drawing of the moon and the night sky. She smiled at Clarke and chuckled. 

“Maybe this is the reason you have to come to me for tutoring Clarke.” She said nodding at the drawing.

Clarke smiled and blushed slightly. 

“I promise I pay attention in class, I just like to draw while I take notes.”

“Don’t worry Clarke, I was only teasing. Your drawing is beautiful.”

Clarke smiled again and blushed a little deeper this time. 

“Thank you.” She said looking up at Lexa and back down at the drawing. 

“Where did you learn to draw like that?” 

“I’ve always loved to draw. My dad taught me some but mostly I learned on my own.”

Lexa nodded. 

“I should call you sky girl, because it looks like your head is always in the clouds instead of paying attention to your lectures. You even draw the sky.”

“I think the sky is beautiful. And I told you, I do pay attention, I just draw as I take notes.” Clarke was adamant that she did pay attention in class. It did not really matter to Lexa, and she did like Clarke’s drawings. 

Lexa could not deny that Clarke had caught her interest. The other girl was beautiful after all. Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a kind and bright smile. Her drawings were beautiful too and Lexa felt admiration for the other girl’s talent. 

Lexa realized that she was staring at the other girl with a look close to admiration on her face, and Clarke was looking back at her with a small smile. She quickly composed herself and checked the time on her watch.

“I think that will be all for today Clarke.”

Clarke looked back at her and nodded.

“Sure, same time next week?” Clarke asked

“Yes, I will meet you again next week at the same time.”

Clarke gathered up her book and lexa watched her out of the corner of her eye as she gathered her own. Clarke left first and Lexa's eyes lingered on her as she left the class room. _That girl is beautiful. Stop it Lexa._ She chided herself. _You are not getting tangled in another relationship._ Still, she could not deny that she might feel something for Clarke.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Clarke was smiling to herself at the formality of Lexa's reply she she left the classroom. _There's something about the way she looks at me, I don't know how to describe it. She thinking my drawings are beautiful._ Clarke walked from the classroom to her residence building, walking in to for dorm's lounge to find Raven there. 

“Back from you tutoring session I see.” Raven was sitting in their dorm’s lounge tinkering with something that looked mechanical. “How’s your hot tutor?” 

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Raven please, Lexa is just my tutor.” 

“Sure sure, but I still saw you staring at her the other day. And you seemed all too keen to go and meet her tonight. No one gets that excited about chemistry.” 

“Raven, lay off it would you? It’s not like that.” Raven could be frustrating. The girl wasn’t great with feelings and she mostly liked to tease Clarke in her knowing way. 

So what if Clarke thought Lexa was hot? Or if she was excited to see her. Lexa was a fascinating person and Clarke wanted to know more. That didn’t mean she liked her. Not like that. 

“Go play with your mechanical things Raven. I have some homework to finish for the morning.” 

Clarke sat down and opened her laptop, intent on finishing an online quiz for one of her classes. 

“Sure thing Griffin. By the way Octavia thinks she’s hot too.” 

Clarke rolled her eyes and sighed intent on not giving Raven the satisfaction of a reply. Of course Raven had had Octavia scope out Lexa. Her friends were intent on her getting a love life again after things had ended so terribly with her last relationship. Clarke and Raven hadn’t known about each other when they were both seeing Finn. When Raven discovered Clarke the two girls had hated each other at first but then they settled their differences and bonded over how much of a dick Finn had been for playing them both. The two had been best friends ever since. 

Clarke finished the quiz and packed up her stuff to head back to her own single room down the hall. The building was a single style dorm, and two rooms would share a bathroom between them. Octavia was Clarke’s bathroom mate, the two had requested to share when they came to university together. Octavia and Clarke had been friends since high school and when Clarke had introduced her to Raven the two had become fast friends. 

__As Clarke was leaving Raven called out to her “Hey Octavia and I were wanting to go out to the bar this Friday, are you free?”_ _

__“Sure, I just have some volunteering in the afternoon and then we can go out.”_ _

__“Cool cool, we’re going to the usual spot then.”_ _

__“Goodnight Raven.”_ _

__“Goodnight.”_ _

__Clarke went back to her room for the night knocking on Octavia’s door as she passed._ _

__“Goodnight Octavia!” She called through the door. Octavia’s muffled reply came from the other side of the door_ _

__“Night Clarke!”_ _

__“Yea, night Clarke!” Came another voice, male this time._ _

__Clarke chuckled. The voice belonged to Octavia’s boyfriend Lincoln. The two of them were inseparable and one of the cutest couples Clarke had ever seen. Octavia’s older brother Bellamy didn’t like Lincoln but Clarke thought he was a good guy._ _

__Clarke got ready for bed, already she couldn’t wait for Friday. It would be nice to go out and relax. She had spent the last couple of weekends in since her school work had been heavy. Clarke went to sleep thinking about going out on Friday and wondering why her admittedly hot chemistry tutor acted so guarded and formal and yet how her smile could be so kind._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will get more exciting I promise. The friends will be going out to the bar and there will be some drunken mischief.  
> Again, constructive criticism is totally welcome.


	3. Distractions/The Bar Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is impressed with Clarke's desire to help people.

Lexa had situated herself at a table on the outside patio of the on campus café it overlooked a green space that served as an area for events on campus often. Right now there seemed to be some sort of fundraiser happening. The banners above the booths read Doctors Without Borders so she guessed students were raising money for the cause. The university was known for its medical program so there were a few student clubs associated with various kinds of medical groups. Students trying to get a leg up with extracurricular activities or who join the clubs for a sense of community at the big school. From where lexa sat with her coffee and study notes she could see 10 or so student volunteers around the booths. They all had white t-shirts with the organization’s red logo underneath their fall jackets. Some talking to people about the organization, others handing out promotional materials like stickers and pamphlets to passersby. 

She was idly watching the group of volunteers feeling unmotivated to return to the study notes in front of her. Besides one of the girls over there had a great ass and life was too short not to enjoy such things. Lexa was in the middle of unashamedly checking out the girl’s ass when the other girl suddenly turned around. Her eyes were scanning the area for more passersby to talk to when her gaze fell on Lexa before she could fully bring her eyes up. Clarke didn’t seem to notice and broke into a smile when she saw Lexa and waved at her. Lexa could feel a small blush on her cheeks as she waved back. Clarke walked across the distance between them and came to lean causally on the railing enclosing the outdoor patio at which Lexa sat.  


“Hey” Clarke smiled at her.  


“Hello Clarke,” Lexa replied tilting her head up and leaning back in her chair to look at Clarke as she leaned over the railing. 

“What’s going on over there?”  


“Doctors Without Borders Fundraiser, we hold one every semester to raise money. Some of our graduates join the organization for a while to travel and help people. I want to join for a few years once I become a doctor so I can go and help people too. So I joined the club in the meantime to help out this way.”  


Lexa smiled as she listened to Clarke talk about the organization and her hopes to help people. It was refreshing to hear how genuinely eager this girl seemed to be to help others. Selflessness and compassion were traits Lexa thought were far too rare in this world, and when Clarke talked about helping others she seemed to brim with both.  


“That sounds like a good cause, Clarke.” Lexa had meant to say something that better conveyed how she admired Clarke for the compassion but being personable did not come easily to her so she often sounded stiff and formal.  


“Anyways I came over here to tell you that I had a pop quiz in class last week and I did much better since you stated tutoring me. So thank you for your help.”  


“You’re welcome Clarke, I am glad to hear that my tutoring is helping you.” Lexa cursed herself again. Despite herself she kind of liked Clarke, and Lexa didn’t get close to many people. She had her best friend Anya but other than that no one was really allowed in to her world. Clarke seemed so full of joy and ideas and compassion that Lexa couldn’t not feel admiration for the other girl at the very least. And she wasn’t bad to look at either. In fact Clarke was downright gorgeous. The way she leaned over the railing with her easy smile, blonde hair shining in the sunlight. Not to mention is should be illegal for someone to look that good dressed in something as simple as a white t-shirt and blue jeans with a slightly worn out blue fall jacket on top. Lexa realized she was staring and quickly looked back to her notes, raising her coffee to her lips to take a sip to avoid having to say anything.  


Clarke just smiled at her again, “Anyway I’ve got to get back over there. I’ll see you at our next session!” With that she pushed off from the railing and walked back over to the other volunteers.  


Lexa sat at her table for the next hour, sipping her coffee and stealing glances over at Clarke over the top of her study notes. Clarke spent the whole time smiling, taking joy from her volunteering, striking up conversations with people as they walked past, collecting donations for the cause. Lexa eventually decided she would never get anything done sitting there and got up to try and study elsewhere for another hour or so before she called it a day. Anya had insisted that Lexa didn’t go out enough so she had promised to go out to the bar with her that night.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Clarke was tired after spending the whole afternoon on her feet volunteering, not that she minded, she enjoyed it and it had been such a nice day she had been happy to be outside instead of inside studying. She was currently in her dorm room leaning over the bathroom sink as she applied eyeliner. Octavia was next to her working on braiding her own hair as they got ready to go out to the bar.  


“So Clarke, I think we should find you a hot date tonight, it’s been long enough since that train wreck between you, Raven and Finn. If you won’t make a move on your hot chemistry tutor then at least give me the satisfaction of seeing party animal Clarke tonight.  


“Don’t worry girl, after a long week I’m ready to finally kick back and get my party on.”  


Clarke stepped back and examined herself in the mirror. She had skater sneakers and skinny jeans, a tank top that showed off her cleavage in all the right ways and a snapback hat. With a little eyeliner makeup and jewelry she was rocking her favourite party look. Octavia didn’t understand why Clarke didn’t dress more feminine when they went out, but Clarke liked her hat. Octavia preferred to look a little more classy, she looked gorgeous in a small black dress that exposed most of her back. The bar they were going to was fairly laid back but Octavia relished the opportunity to look fierce and beautiful in her dress. Clarke winked at herself and the girls left the dorm. They headed down the hall and knocked on Raven’s door.  


“Raven! Are you ready?” Clarke called through the door.  


The door opened a few seconds later, “Of course, I don’t need to take forever like you too, let’s go.”  
Raven preferred not to dress up to go out. Clothes or fashion didn’t interest her much at all but she was beautiful in just about anything so it didn’t really matter. She had jeans and a blue tanktop with her favorite orange jacket over it.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Lexa was sitting in the bar stool next to Anya surveying the room. Towards the middle people were dancing, and around the edges people sat at small tables sipping drinks. Anya and Lexa had stationed themselves at the bar since Lexa didn’t want to dance and it was more convenient to get drinks this way.  


“So Lexa, see anyone you like?”  


Anya was pestering her again about “getting back out there”. Lexa’s breakup with Costia had been over a year ago but Lexa hadn’t found anyone she was interested in since.  


“Oooh Lexa, how about that one?” Lexa looked over to the door where Anya was pointing. Three girls had just walked in and were heading towards the bar for drinks. Anya, of course was pointing directly at the blonde haired girl who Lexa happened to be tutoring.  


“Anya stop pointing!” Lexa pulled Anya’s arm down, “You’ll freak her out.”  


“Alright relax,” Anya looked at Lexa and then back to Clarke who was nearly at the bar, “so do you think she’s pretty?”  


“Anya please, she’s one of the people I’ve been tutoring, it would be inappropriate to date her.”  


“That isn’t an answer, Lexa.” Anya fixed her with a hard stare. Lexa could never hide anything from Anya.  


“Yes. I think she is pretty, but that means nothing.” Lexa put on her best, I’m serious face and stared back at Anya acting as aloof as she could, hoping to discourage Anya from prying any further.  


Anya only smiled slyly and glanced over her shoulder to the other side of the bar where Clarke and her friends were now ordering drinks. “We’ll see about that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to finish the whole bar scene before posting this but I figured I would put up part of it in the meantime since it has been a long time since I updated.  
> Feel free to leave comments :)


	4. The Bar Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa just needed a little push to realize she did have feelings for Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the rest of the bar scene! Yes its short but I already have ideas for the next chapter so the next wait shouldn't be as long.

Clarke leaned across the bar counter top, “Jaggerbombs, three of them” she told the bartender. Raven grinned at her while Octavia rolled her eyes.  


The girls downed the shots and then they each ordered more drinks and began to survey the bar. Clarke was just starting to look around when Raven elbowed her in the ribs.  


“Hey Clarke your crush is here.” Clarke felt the heat rise to her face, her friends were relentless when they wanted to be. Octavia had quickly looked over in the direction Raven had gestured to. Clarke panicked not wanting her friends to embarrass her, they had only just got here.  


“Will you stop staring?!”  


“Come on Clarke when was the last time you had a little fun.” Octavia was smiling at Clarke and by that look Clarke knew what ever came next was probably going to be embarrassing for her. Clarke downed her drink and signaled the bartender to bring her another, if Octavia and Raven were going to tease her all night she might as well be drunk for it.  


The music was loud and the drinks had started to make her head a little fuzzy when the girl who had been sitting next to Lexa stepped right into Clarke’s field of vision.  


“Hey gorgeous, can I buy you a drink?” The other girl was taller than Clarke and older and had an air of confidence and mischief. Clarke nodded happily buzzed from her previous drinks and not about to turn down a free drink. Raven was staring with her mouth open and Octavia had a look of surprise as well. Obviously they had not been expecting Lexa’s friend to start hitting on her.  


“My name is Anya, Lexa told me about you, although she forgot to mention just how beautiful you are.” Clarke cocked an eyebrow at Anya as she accepted a mixed drink from the bar tender. She wasn’t really buying Anya’s antics. Raven was giggling and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Lexa had shuffled down the bar closer to them to be within ear shot and she looked rather pissed off.  


Before Clarke could think of a retort Raven jumped in to the conversation, “Sorry but you won’t get anywhere with her, she’s already got her eye on somebody else.” Clarke glared at Raven but Raven looked all too pleased with herself to care.  


Anya smiled and leaned in closer to Raven lowering her voice so that Lexa couldn’t hear, “Don’t worry she’s not my type, Lexa just needs a little motivation to wake up and realize she likes Clarke.” Clarke’s eyes went wide and she looked down to the floor.  


\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lexa knew Anya wouldn’t actually try and steal her crush away, but what Lexa knew Anya would do is embarrass Lexa to no end in front of Clarke. So when Anya had leaned in to whisper to Clarke and her friends Lexa knew whatever Anya was saying wouldn’t bode well for her. Time to step in. She finished her drink and walked over to Anya.  


“Ok Anya time to go, remember I have to be up early tomorrow so you promised we wouldn’t stay up late. Hi, Clarke nice to see you.”  


“Hey Lexa,”  


“Lexa we can’t leave yet I haven’t even been introduced to Clarke’s friends.” Lexa rolled her eyes knowing Anya was just playing for time.  


“Oh right, sorry, Anya, Lexa this is Raven and Octavia.” Lexa could feel Clarke’s eyes on her, like she was hoping she would say something else, maybe make some kind of move. The group had gotten squished closer together while they were talking as the club had gotten rather full. Lexa was right next to Clarke and she could smell her perfume. Being so close to the blonde was a little distracting and Clarkes blue eyes were fixed on hers. Lexa had become hyperaware of Clarke’s presence so close to her, the faint smell of alcohol, the way her low cut shirt revealed her perfect breasts, the way the lights in the club shone off her blonde hair. Lexa could feel her mouth going dry and she unconsciously licked her lips. Raven, Octavia and Anya had started small talk about what everyone was majoring in and school.  


Clarke broke the silence between the two of them “Do you dance?”  


Lexa shook her head vigorously, “No, I don’t even go out much but every now and then Anya decides we should go and I mostly sit and watch the fun.”  


“That’s too bad, I love dancing.” Lexa realized that Clarke had been hinting at dancing with her and her heart hammered in her chest thinking about being on the dance floor together. But the club music was never to Lexa’s taste and she really didn’t know how to dance to it. She could imagine Clarke dancing though, moving in time with the beat enjoying herself.  


Octavia having just downed another drink seemed to decide it was time the conversation ended. “Then let’s dance Griffin!” With that she grabbed Clarke’s arm with one hand and Raven with the other and pulled them onto the dance floor. As she left she shouted over her shoulder at Lexa and Anya “Nice to meet you both!”  


Lexa gave a small wave as Clarke was dragged away and turned back to the bar and Anya. “You trying to make me jealous wasn’t going to work you know.”  


Anya only shrugged, “I had to try.” With that Anya walked onto the dance floor to enjoy the music. She never seemed to mind dancing alone and often it wasn’t long until someone was dancing with her.  


Lexa leaned back against the bar and looked out at the crowd of dancers. Somewhere in the throng she saw familiar blonde hair. Clarke was dancing to the music and it was incredibly distracting the way the blonde moved her body. A moment later Lexa noticed that a brown haired guy was trying to edge into Clarke’s space. He seemed to be testing if Clarke would let him dance with her. Octavia, who was dancing next to Clarke noticed the boy and, with a mischievous smile bumped into Clarke moving her right in front of the boy.  


Clarke looked up at him and smiled. She didn’t seem to mind him dancing with her and the boy, who Lexa recognized was handsome smiled back and stepped into Clarke’s space. Soon Clarke and the brown haired boy were incredibly close and their bodies were moving in sync together. Clarke was smiling widely and the boy couldn’t take his eyes off her.  


It was at this point that Lexa noticed she had a death grip on her empty drink glass. She turned around and bought another drink and took a big swallow of the strong liquor. What did it matter if Clarke was dancing with some boy? Letting him touch her? It wasn’t anything serious. Clarke was her student, their relationship was professional. But the more Lexa saw them dance and the more of her drink she swallowed the more she could feel her jealousy.  


Time went by and Lexa sipped a couple more drink while she waited for Anya to tire out. She tried to keep her eyes off the blonde but she kept feeling herself being drawn to look over and check on her. After a while Lexa switched to water and as she finished her glass Anya appeared at her side. “It rude to stare you know.”  


Lexa simply glared at her. She wasn’t in the mood to explain herself. “Are you ready to leave?”  


“Sure, the music isn’t that great tonight anyway.”  


Lexa pushed off from the bar and started walking to the door, as she cut through the dance floor she took one last look over to Clarke. She had left her dance partner to rejoin her friends. Covered in a light sheen of sweat with a big grin on her face from drinking Lexa felt relieved to see she had left the boy. The idea of Clarke taking him home made her gut twist.  


Ok. So maybe she did have feelings for Clarke. How could she not?


	5. The Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is an amazing athlete and the girls strike a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter yay! And for your patience some one on one time between our girls!

The next day Clarke’s head felt a little heavy. She hadn’t drank too much but it was enough that she could feel the after effects of the booze. Octavia believed that the best way to get over a night of drinking was to workout. Octavia loved the gym and since Lincoln had introduced her to the world of working out she was always trying to drag Clarke out with her. It was because of Octavia’s adorable puppy eyes that Clarke found herself at the gym late the next morning jogging on the treadmill and chugging water to replace the hydration her body has lost last night drinking and dancing. 

Clarke stole a glance at Octavia, the girl had broken a sweat but only because she was running hard and fast on the treadmill. Improving her cardiovascular system was her latest goal. To Clarke that seemed to mean a lot of running. 

She looked forward across the room trying to focus on her breathing, hearing the constant thrumming of her feet on the treadmill and the whirring of the machine over her music. Across the room to the left some guys were lifting weights, on the right was a semi private room. Decals covered most of the glass wall facing the rest of the gym to give the occupants some privacy, but enough was visible to make out the shapes of the people inside. A slender brunette had just slipped in the door claiming the room for herself and had begun stretching. Clark nearly missed a step on the treadmill when the brunette turned and she recognized Lexa through the glass. Lexa was focused on a glass wall in her room and had not seen Clarke. Clarke continued to jog on her treadmill, breathing raggedly, gazed fixed on Lexa as she began dragging some mats around the private room to the center of the floor. As she moved the mats Clarke saw Anya appear from the change rooms and make her way to the room Lexa had claimed. Clarke was getting tired at this point but she had all but forgotten about running as she watched the scene in front of her. 

Anya had brought some equipment in with her and was getting ready with what looked like training gear for kick boxing. Sure enough within a few minutes Lexa was beating the shit out of the pads Anya held up for her.

Clarke was blatantly staring across the gym and into their private studio. Lexa was marvelous to watch. She was so strong and fluid Clarke wondered what it would look like to see her fight another person. Clarke could see all of Lexa’s muscle tone and became mesmerized watching her movements as she seemed to dance around Anya. Her athleticism was amazing and Clarke’s mouth was going dry just watching her move. 

“Clarke! Hey!” Clarke ripped her eyes off the scene across the gym and turned to look at Octavia who was hitting her arm to get her attention. She reached to slow down the treadmill and pulled out her ear buds.

“Ya what’s up?” 

“Time to go Griffin. We’ve got class in half an hour.” Clarke glanced at the time, she was right. She stepped down from her own machine and followed Octavia out of the gym, turning to look over her shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Lexa. Lexa was taking a break, with a water bottle in hand she was looking out over the rest of the gym while she drank. Lexa’s eyes landed on Clarke as she left and Clarke quickly turned and caught up with Octavia before Lexa could see the blush she felt rising to her cheeks.  
Octavia looked at Clarke’s blush with amusement, mistaking the redness in her cheeks as being from their work out. “You’re all red Griffin, I’ve never seen you get in your zone quite like that.” 

Clarke blushed even further at Octavia noticing her redness, thankful she hadn’t seen Lexa and recognized the true cause of the redness in her face. “Oh yea, I just had a great playlist going today.”

Octavia just nodded as they headed for the change rooms. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next Tuesday Lexa sat in a café near campus waiting for Clarke. The blonde had suggested moving their regular session to earlier in the day and suggested to coffee shop so caffeine would be near at hand. A moment later the café door opened and Clarke strode in. Spying Lexa she made for her table.

Clarke smiled at Lexa, “Hey, what kind of coffee do you like?” Lexa wasn’t expecting the question, and stuttered a little. 

“I, um, I’m more of a tea person.” Lexa responded looking up at Clarke from her seat.

“Sure, orange pekoe, English breakfast,? Do you take milk or sugar?” 

“Um Orange Peko? With some sugar?” 

“Great, I’ll grab us some caffeine and we can start.” Lexa sat slightly perplexed as to why Clarke wanted to bring her tea but she wasn’t going to refuse.

Clarke returned a moment later carrying a steaming cup of tea, a very frothy looking latte and some cookies. She handed the tea to Lexa and smiled. “I can’t get through studying for finals without coffee and snacks.”

Lexa accepted the tea and Clarke sat down beside her and began unpacking her stuff. 

“Let’s get started then. Your final is in 2 weeks and there’s a lot to cover.” Lexa flipped open to the texts last chapter and started explaining the material.  
Clarke sat and nodded, asking questions and following along in her lecture notes. Lexa could see the drawings that continued to litter the margins of the page. Flowers seemed to grow from the lines of Clarke’s paper and in the corner of one page a familiar streetscape was drawn.

Lexa paused when she saw the sketch “Where is that street?” Clarke lowered the latte she had been sipping. 

“Hm?”

“In your notes, there.” Lexa leaned closer to reach in front of Clarke and point at the drawing.

“Oh, yea, that’s near the club, the one I saw you at.” Lexa clenched her jaw remembering that night and the jealously she had felt while Clarke had been dancing with that boy.

“Yes, I recognize it now.” She wondered what Clarke had thought of that night, if she had noticed Lexa leave. 

“You said you didn’t dance.” 

“Um, yes. I don’t” Lexa was staring at Clarke, confused.

Clarke smiled, “It’s just that you move so well.”

Not Lexa was truly perplexed, what was Clarke talking about? “I don’t understand.”

Clarke seemed to be blushing slightly, almost hiding behind to huge latte she held in front of her with both hands. “I, uh. You were at the gym a few days ago training with Anya… I, ah, saw you there and you move so well I though you would be great at dancing.”

Lexa stared at Clarke, who was acting adorably shy having just admitted to have been watching Lexa. 

Lexa felt herself soften at the compliment, and she smiled back at Clarke “Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. 

“Was it kickboxing?” Clarke asked.

“No, I practice mixed martial arts. I find it helps to relieve stress.” Lexa was pleased someone had noticed her fighting, she always felt confident when she was training.

“It looked really cool.” Clarke smiled at her, seeming to have lost some of her embarrassment. 

“Perhaps I could teach you some moves when finals are over. If you would like.” Lexa shocked herself, not thinking before the offer had left her mouth. _Where did that bravery come from? You never train with anyone except Anya._

Lexa was about to take the offer back but thankfully Clarke looked excited at the idea, “Only if I get to teach you how to dance.” Her look had turned cheeky as she teased Lexa. _Is she flirting with me?_ Lexa decided to keep her brave streak going.

“That seems like a fair trade off. But only if you ace this final.” 

Clarke was grinning at her now, “You drive a hard bargain, but I accept. Luckily I have a great tutor who will help me study.”

Lexa laughed at Clarke’s shameless flattery and flirtations. “You need to focus first,” she teased back.

Clarke smiled and gave her a wink “Then let’s get back to it, I have a final to ace.”

Lexa gulped when Clarke winked. _Yes, definitely flirting. What have you gotten yourself into?_ Clarke was gorgeous and flirting with her and maybe it was time Lexa put herself out there a little again. I can only wait and see if she aces this final. Despite her panic Lexa was hoping Clarke would.  


\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

An hour later Clarke left the coffee shop giddy and flustered. She didn’t know where her courage had come from but she had indirectly asked Lexa out to go dancing. And might have scored more time with Lexa learning mixed martial arts, which, really did look cool. Somehow Lexa had lowered her walls for her for a few moments. Lexa had flirted with her! She had even smiled at her, her beautiful blue green eyes alight. The calm collected tutor had melted away for a few minutes and underneath Lexa was warm, beautiful, confident and a little bit flirtatious. Clarke wanted to see that side of her again. And she was determined to take Lexa out after her exam. All she has to do is focus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed the update!


	6. You Should Study

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke gets distracted while studying, good thing Lexa catches her and helps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for sticking around! Or, if you've just found this fic, welcome! 
> 
> I thought I would add a small note about the timeline before this chapter. Clarke would have written her midterm late in October and gotten it back early November and found a tutor shortly thereafter. The first session happens mid November, the second a week later, the third a week after that and her final exam is 2 weeks after the third session, making it about mid December for Clarke's final exam. Make sense? Ok, enjoy the next chapter!

Clarke sat at a table in the school library with her textbook and notes strewn about. There was a coffee cup on the desk but the last few sips had long since gone cold. It was the end of the semester and everyone was swamped studying for their finals which began in just over a week. Clarke had a paper due for on class open on her laptop that she had since lost focus on. At some point she had opened her chemistry notes intending to switch subjects to refocus on her studying but chemistry too had been cast aside. While flipping through her notes Clarke had begun to draw again in her book as she often did in class. 

Maybe it was the over tiredness or the fact she had drained all her will and self-control trying to focus on school for so many hours, but Clarke had begun to sketch Lexa. Octavia had been sitting with Clarke studying before but had since left to see Lincoln so it was just Clarke at her table in the library, and no one else was bothering to look at her or her notes. Everyone was too preoccupied with their own stress to notice. So Clarke sketched Lexa when she might have normally not let her mind wander quite that far. 

Lexa had promised to teach her fighting moves and Clarke would get to dance with Lexa if she aced her final. Drawing pictures of her tutor probably wasn’t the best way to study and uphold that bet but right now Clarke didn’t have the brain power to do anything else. She sat adding shading to her drawing until in her peripheral vision she noticed that someone had walked up to her table and stopped. She raised her head quickly and smacked one hand over the drawing to cover it. 

When she saw it was Lexa standing at her table her heart nearly stopped and she quickly flipped the note book over with a little too much force, smacking it loudly against the table. Lexa was dressed casually with a book bag hanging from her shoulder. She had obviously just walked in from outside as she still had her hat and coat and a bit of redness to her cheeks from the cold. Her expression when Clarke first looked up had been one of confusion, however after seeing Clarke’s hasty attempt to conceal her drawing it quickly became a more mischievous look. 

“Those don’t look like school notes. You know most people come to the library to study, is your head in the clouds again Sky Girl?” 

Clarke felt her cheeks burning as she blushed at being caught. She wasn’t going to let Lexa tease her about her sketch. For all Lexa knew Clarke drew all her friends. But Lexa wasn’t exactly a friend, she was her tutor. Her tutor who she had flirted with and made a bet to see each other more after their tutoring sessions ended. 

“I was just taking a break.” Clarke replied lamely. 

Lexa looked at her with a serious expression. “You should be studying, Clarke. Or did you not want to ace your final?” 

“I do want to ace the final.” Clarke looked off to the side and as a side thought added, “But maybe life should be about more than just studying. I deserved a break for today.” 

Lexa looked less serious now, perhaps Clarke didn’t deserve to be told off for not focusing. Lexa could see by the materials strewn out in front of Clarke that she had been there for hours. She softened her expression.

“Maybe you did.” She smiled a little and Clarke looked relieved that she wouldn’t have to defend herself. “Would you like some help, Clarke? No charge, you look like you could use someone to help you focus.”

Clarke smiled a small smile at her, “That would be great.” She looked at Lexa’s bag, full of her own books and realized Lexa had likely came to the library to study for her own finals. 

“Don’t you need to focus on your own studies?”

Lexa shook her head. “I’ll be ok. We can study together. I’ll just be here to help you with any questions you have.”

Clarke nodded and pulled out the chair next to her for Lexa, who moved around the table and sat down. Clarke began tidying up her papers and putting away her other materials to make room. Lexa reached across the table and flipped over Clarke’s note book with her portrait in it. Clarke panicked and tried to stammer an explanation. “I draw lots of people I know. You should see my pictures of Octavia and Raven.” 

Lexa smiled, “If Octavia and Raven’s portraits are anything like this I’m sure they’re quite good.” 

Clarke could only dip her head and blush furiously. _Come on Clarke, pull it together! ___Despite the embarrassment she felt about having Lexa find her sketching, and there was a lot of embarrassment, she felt a little bit of pride too. _She likes it! ___

__Clarke got back to her chemistry practice questions and Lexa pulled out a thick psychology textbook to review._ _

__\---------------------------------------------------------_ _

__Lexa sat next to Clarke, re-reading sections of her psychology textbook and adding to her lecture notes._ _

__She couldn’t help but steal glances at Clarke every few minutes. Even after she had been camped out in the library for hour she looked beautiful and Lexa was especially taken with her after having caught Clarke sketching her. To think that Clarke’s mind had wandered to her while studying meant that maybe their playful bet as to if Clarke would ace the exam could be a little more serious than it seemed._ _

__Lexa wanted Clarke to ace the final. Sure, Lexa wanted all of the students she tutored to do well but she hoped she would have an excuse to continue to see Clarke after the semester was over. So Lexa had offered to help Clarke study, even though they didn’t have another session schedule until next week. Maybe giving Clarke extra help was cheating a little but Lexa knew what she wanted and there was no reason why she couldn’t help nudge Clarke towards an A._ _

__They sat quietly together for a while. It felt different than their tutoring sessions. There Lexa was in charge of teaching Clarke. Here they were peers studying together, almost like friends. Clarke would still nudge Lexa every so often with a question but it wasn’t like when they first started their tutoring sessions. Lexa liked how they had grown a little bit closer. Lexa didn’t know how but Clarke had broken though her tough exterior a little bit and now Lexa couldn’t get her out of her head._ _

__She really hoped Clarke aced that final._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Clarke aces this exam too! 
> 
> I tried to sneak in parallels of a couple of my fav Clexa moments from the show, when Clarke sketches Lexa as she sleeps and my favourite "Maybe life should be about more than just surviving." line right before the first kiss. (Sorry they didnt kiss right after that line in the fic, don't worry we'll get there.) What did you think?
> 
> I'm on tumblr as tenfourtytwo if you want to find me there. Its mostly Clexa and Korrasami stuff. If you follow me you'll know I havnt fallen off the face of the earth since I know I don't update on any regular schedule. Thanks for sticking around! Just a couple more chapters to go!


	7. The Night Before the Exam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I would like to apologize for being the absolute WORST about updating. Hopefully you all can forgive me. I hope you like this chapter ^.^

Clarke sat in her room, staring at the calendar pinned to her wall. The days for the first week of December were crossed off and the next one on the calendar had the words “Chemistry Final” written in ink. She sighed and leaned back in her desk chair surveying the room around her. It was a disaster. Clothes strewn everywhere, dishes piled on every available surface and study notes littering the floor. This was how it always was when she got stressed out about school. Everything else in life took a back seat while she focused on whatever assignment or exam was before her. She couldn’t get anything done here anymore. Her brain was too fried from hours of reading over her notes and the thought of picking up her textbook again made her sigh. It was already 4 in the afternoon but she wanted to keep studying. She picked up the phone from her desk. Maybe Lexa can help, she can drill me on questions, that way I can stay focused. She pulled up Lexa’s number and texted a message. _“Hey, if you’re not busy I could use some help with some last minute cramming for tomorrow.”_

She set down the phone and began moving around the room and clearing away all the messy dishes from the last two days. The semester was almost over and after this final she just had to hand in assignment for another class and she would be able to enjoy her break. She was part way through sorting out which of her clothes on the floor were clean and dirty when she heard her phone chime from the desk. _“I am free to help you Clarke, where would you like to study?”_ Even in text messages Lexa’s tone was somewhat formal and she would often use her name. Not that Clarke minded, it made her feel special whenever Lexa said it. 

Clarke looked out of the window at the cold outside. It was frosty and chilly out but no real snow yet. Perhaps it was selfish to make Lexa venture out in the cold because she was comfortable but she really just wanted to stay in her room. _“You could come to my dorm if that’s alright.”_ Lexa, being a year older than Clarke lived in another residence building on the other side of the courtyard. A moment later her phone chimed again. _“No problem, I’ll be there in an hour.”_ Clarke read the message and set her phone back down once again surveying the state of her room. If Lexa was coming over she had to do something about the mess. Reluctantly she started to clean.

45 minutes later her room was habitable once again. Clarke sat back on her bed pulling a sketch book from the dresser next to her bed and began to draw while she waited for Lexa. After just a few minutes there was a knock on the door.  
“Come in!” She called, looking up from her sketching. The door opened but instead of Lexa it was Octavia who stepped into her room. She leaned back against the door and smiled at Clarke. 

“Hey, Raven and I are going to watch a movie in the lounge if you want to take a break.” 

Clarke shook her head as she spoke “No, I’m sorry. I’m meeting Lexa to study any minute now.”

Octavia raised her eyebrow. “Then why are you still here?” 

“She’s coming here to help me study.” Octavia’s smile became mischievous and Clarke knew she was in for some teasing.

“Oooh, that explains why it’s so clean in here. I didn’t realize your tutor made house calls.”

“Well she’s more of a friend at this point.”

“I’m your friend and you never clean up when I’m here.”

“No but that’s because you live right next to me. Plus you know how messy I am it’s pointless to try and hide that from you now.”

“Yea yea, have fun _studying_ with Lexa” Octavia winked and left to go join Raven in the lounge. 

A few minutes later there was another knock on her door. “Come in!” she called.

This time Clarke was relieve to see Lexa step into her room, her dark curly hair escaping from under a hat and the rest of her bundled up in a coat. She came in balancing two cups on top of one and other while she used her other hand to open the door.

“Hello Clarke. I um, brought some tea.” 

“Thank you,” She felt small butterflies in her stomach as Lexa pulled off her hat and unwind a long scarf from her neck. After she finished pulling off her boots and coat she handed one of the cups to Clarke and she held it in both hands enjoying the warmth spread through her fingers as she inhaled the herbal sent of the steam rising from the cup. Lexa went at sat in the chair at Clarke’s desk sipping at her own tea. Clarke remained on the bed and set aside her sketch book. 

“Thanks for coming over, I couldn’t focus on my notes anymore and I was hoping you could test me on the material.”

“You’re welcome Clarke. I have some practice questions I used with some of my other students in the past. I can quiz you on those.”

“That sounds perfect.”

Lexa reached into her bag and pulled out a set of notes. She turned the chair face Clarke and began reading out the first question. 

After each question she would look up from the page at Clarke and fix her with her green eyes while she waited for Clarke to answer. When Lexa’s head was bowed over the paper Clarke was admiring the way her lips moved around the words. How could Clarke have ever guessed that this was the same girl she met all those weeks ago and seemed so distant and formal. Here she sat in Clarkes own bedroom, offering her help as a friend and not a tutor. 

Lexa tested her on questions for nearly an hour and Clarke was answering almost every question correctly. Clarke was staring as Lexa read out a question, wondering what it might feel like if Lexa’s lips were moving against hers instead. She was too distracted and missed the last question Lexa had just read to her.

“Clarke? Do you know the answer?”

“Oh yea, sorry. I spaced out a bit there.” Clarke took a sip of her now lukewarm tea to conceal her face. 

Lexa set down the notes and leaned back in the chair. She ran a hand through her hair pulling it behind her ear and away from her face. 

“I think you’re well prepared for the exam Clarke.” 

Clarke frowned, she didn’t want to mess this exam up. 

“I know, I’m just worried about this one.”

“Why? You’ve been getting almost every question right and you’ve improved immensely since your midterm.”

Clarke smiled at Lexa’s praise. “Thanks to you,” she countered. “I’m just worried because I feel like this is so important, I want to do well and become a doctor so I can help people. And that means I need to get amazing grades in everything. What if I don’t do well enough?” 

Lexa nodded. She understood the pressure and stress of school. But Clarke needed to relax if she was going to do well on this exam. Lexa knew that drilling her on questions was going to be of no further benefit to her studying. She had learned everything she needed to know. 

“Clarke, I am confident you will do well on your exam.” Lexa smiled at her as she spoke and she could see some of the tension release from Clarke at the reassurance. “Clarke you don’t need to study anymore, what you need to do is relax and let your mind rest before the exam.” Lexa reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop and then continued speaking. “You want to be a doctor so you can help people. Right now I’m going to help you relax before this exam.” Lexa typed in her password and opened her internet browser navigating to Netflix. Clarke watched her curiously wondering what she was doing. 

“What kind of movie do you like?” Lexa asked. She stood up and moved over to the bed and sat down next to Clarke so she could see the screen. 

Clarke smiled “I thought you were supposed to be helping me prepare for my exam?” 

Lexa turned her head and locked here green eyes with Clarke’s blue. “Clarke I am helping you prepare for your exam.” She smiled.

Clarke couldn’t help but smile back. “Ok, you’re the expert.” She looked at the screen scanning the movie titles. “I haven’t seen that one.” She said pointed to one under the recently added category.

“Excellent choice.” 

Lexa clicked the movie and while it loaded Clarke handed her some pillows to lean against and the adjusted themselves sitting side by side on the bed with the laptop balanced on one of each of their legs. 

Clarke leaned back and watched the movie play. It was just after 6 o’clock but already it was dark outside and the room became dimmer with the sun down. The darkness made Clarke sleepy and she found herself leaning into Lexa as the movie played. Her body was warm and soft next to Clarke and it was the closest they had ever been. She found herself becoming hyperaware of just how close she was. Clarke could smell the faint scent of shampoo coming from Lexa’s long flowing hair and could feel her rise and fall as she breathed. 

Clarke decided to take a chance and slowly rested her head against the slightly taller girl’s shoulder. She felt Lexa stiffen for a moment then relax. Lexa tilted her head to brush against Clarkes and adjusted her position so that it was more comfortable for Clarke to lean against her. Clarke smiled to herself.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Lexa watched the movie and she felt Clarke inching closer to her and then finally laying her head on her shoulder. Lexa could feel herself blushing a little and her heart rate increase at the amount of contact between the two of them. Lexa’s right hand was in between their bodies, inches away from Clarke’s right which was across Clarke’s body as she leaned into Lexa. Lexa took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves as she slowly inched her hand up until she was brushing Clarke’s finger tips.

She felt Clarke’s fingers twitch against hers at first at the contact and then Lexa felt her hand go still, waiting. Lexa decided to keep going and brought her hand closer brushing her hand again and she couldn’t help but smile when she felt Clarke respond catching her pinky in hers and holding her little finger. The sat like that for the rest of the movie, Clarke resting her head on Lexa and their little fingers intertwined.

It was so comfortable, so perfect and warm and yet both of their hearts were racing with excitement.

The movie finished and Clarke went to sit up again. Lexa felt sad at the loss of contact and she found herself wishing they had picked a longer movie so they could have stayed like that longer.

Clarke angled her body slightly to be facing Lexa. “Thank you,” she spoke looking more at her own hands in her lap than at Lexa. “You were right, I needed to just relax a bit.” She glanced up at Lexa and smiled at her, still acting slightly timid. 

“You’re welcome Clarke.” Lexa smiled back and then dipped her head so she was also looking at her own hands in her lap. Clarke’s hands moved to take both of Lexa’s hands in hers. Lexa’s eyes flickered up to Clarke’s who was now looking at her intently. 

Lexa knew what was coming next and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

They were already sitting so close to each other and yet both of them were leaning closer.

Lexa could smell the scent of the tea she had brought Clarke on her breath. They both leaned in, slowly, shyly until their lips were mere centimeters apart.

Lexa’s brain had all but stopped working and she surprised herself when she heard her own voice barely above a whisper “Can I kiss you?”

She could feel the warmth of Clarke’s breath when she responded in her own whisper “Yes.” After that Lexa leaned in closing the distance and their lips met. The kiss started off curious as they each explored one another. The kiss became deeper as Lexa brought one hand up to tangle her fingers in Clarke’s blonde hair. After a few long moments they both pulled back to look at each other, blushing furiously, barely containing their shy smiles. Clarke bit her lips and locked eyes with Lexa before leaning in again for a second kiss. Their lips moved against each other and Lexa wove her hand further into Clarke’s hair pulling Clarke closer to her.

They sprang apart when they were interrupted by a knock on Clarke’s door.

“Clarke!” Raven’s voice came through the door. “O and I are going to go get some dinner, want to come?!”

Clarke and Lexa were both blushing, laughing off their embarrassment at having jumped apart. Clarke met Lexa’s eyes, a question in her expression. Lexa understood and nodded that it was ok for Clarke to go with them. They were done studying for the day and their movie had finished. Clarke called back to Raven. “Yea give me a minute to get ready!”

“Ok!” Raven called back through the door and her footsteps echoed off down the hallway.

“Would you like to come with us?”

“No, thank you though.” Clarke nodded, Lexa probably had her own things to work on.

They both got up and Lexa packed away their things and they put on their coats. They stood facing each other at the door. “Thank you,” Clarke said, biting her lip and looking at Lexa.

Lexa smiled back, “Any time.” Clarke leaned forward stretching up a bit and surprised Lexa with another quick kiss on the lips and then they opened the door and went out into the hall. Clarke went to Raven’s room to knock on the door and Lexa continued to the door.

Lexa called over her shoulder as she left “I’ll see you soon Clarke. Good luck tomorrow.”

“Bye Lexa!” Clarke called back with a small wave. Lexa left just as Raven opened the door to her room. She took one look at Clarke’s slightly flushed face and kiss swollen lips and smiled.

“Well someone had a good time.” Raven teased grinning at her.

Clarke hit her arm playfully and grinned at her, unable to contain her happiness. “Come on lets go get some food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did that kiss make up for the wait? Thanks for reading and for being so patient! I'm on Tumblr and you can follow me there if you ever wonder if I've fallen off the earth again. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tenfourtytwo


	8. The Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final installment

The exam wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t anything Clarke couldn’t handle either. She went through, question by question, page by page filling in the little multiple choice bubbles on her paper. It was long, but she worked through it. The clock at the front of the gymnasium ticked loudly in the deafening silence as hundreds of students sat in long rows in almost absolute silence. Near the end of the exam period there was only the scrape of chairs being pushed back, the sound of papers rustling and soft footsteps as the students finished and turned in their exams. 

With 10 minutes to spare Clarke gave her paper one last look before pushing her chair back to stand. This was it. She walked to the front and placed the papers in the basked, nodding solemnly to her professor as she watched. Then Clarke turned, retrieved her coat and left the gymnasium. Once outside she breathed a heavy sigh, watching as her breath coiled out into the air, the mist of her breath floating away and evaporating. It was snowing softly, tiny flurries gently fell in the still air. 

The semester was over, and all of her exams were finished. In a few days she would go home to see her parents for the holidays. Clarke and Jake would bake cookies for when Abby got home from her shift at the hospital, as had become their tradition. The whole house would smell like chocolate and they’d have a cozy holiday together. 

Clarke was excited to go see her parents and yet… she found herself looking in the direction of Lexa’s dorm building as she walked past, hoping to see Lexa, bundled up against the cold with books in her arms on the way to the library. But the campus was still, only a few other students walked between buildings, most had sought shelter from the cold outside or were too busy locked up inside studying. 

Clarke pulled her eyes away from the building and went to her own dorm, going directly to Octavia’s room instead of her own and flopping down next to the other girl on her bed. Octavia had written her last exam just a few hours before and had been watching movies in her room since. It was the perfect way to unwind.

Octavia barely looked at Clarke, she didn’t need to to know what Clarke wanted. Octavia just smiled and shuffled slightly on the bed to make room as Clarke sat next to her, and threw some of the blanket over her. Clarke bumped her shoulder into her and smiled back, “feels good to be free”.

“I know, I don’t plan to move for hours.” 

Clarke turned her attention to the screen and sat watching movies with Octavia for the rest of the day.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lexa sat at her desk in her dorm room gazing out her window. She was at that moment distracted from her work by the soft snow that had begun to fall outside. As the tiny flakes floated down she became lost in thought remembering how Clarke had kissed her just the other day. The blonde had surprised Lexa, her first impression of the girl was that she was a little lost in her own head and a lacked a certain amount of focus on her studies. Clarke had proven her wrong though, while she did daydream she was a wonderful artist because of it, and while Clarke did perhaps neglect school at time in favour of going out with her friends Lexa sensed that Clarke’s friends were deeply important to her and she was fiercely loyal to them. Furthermore Clarke had impressed her with her kindness and compassion, and the focus and drive she had to help others, not only in her volunteering and her passion to become a doctor but also her day to day interactions with others. And she was beautiful. Lexa couldn’t deny that she had noticed that about Clarke right from the beginning.

As if on que Clarke herself came walking through the snow, even from the distance through her window Lexa recognized the blonde hair spilling out from her toque. Clarkes head seemed to turn as if she was looking to Lexa but then the blonde continued on, disappearing from sight as she made her way to her own dorm no doubt. 

They had kissed, and whether Clarke aced the exam and won their bet or not Lexa wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. 

She sighed, looking back to her monitor, _just wait_ she thought, _you’ll know soon enough if Clarke aced her exam and if she did you promised her a dance. There will be another chance to see her then._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At this time of year the sun dipped below the horizon at an alarmingly early hour. 

Clarke had gone out that afternoon to shop and pick up a few presents to bring home to her family for the holidays. By the time she left the mall it was only 5 pm and yet the sun had gone down and the streets around campus were lit by streetlights and the Christmas lights strung up around people’s houses. Once again it was snowing softly and it felt much later in the day than it was. Clarke fixed her hat and adjusted her grip on her shopping bags as she continued to walk through the fresh fallen snow.

She turned and began walking down one of campuses more scenic areas. A brick pedestrian trail lined with short old fashioned street lights and dotted with large trees to the sides, their leaves all gone and the old residence buildings at the end. This part of campus was old and beautiful with the black lamps bricks and trees. In the other seasons ivy vines climbed the nearby buildings adding to the feel.

It was silent as many students had left already to go home for the holidays and Clarke herself would be leaving the next day. As she walked one other figure appeared coming from the other direction. Clarke recognized Lexa and felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. They hadn’t spoken since the kiss. Clarke hadn’t been troubled by it, she had the excuse of talking to Lexa again once she got her grades back and she was fairly confident she would win their bet and get to take Lexa out. 

As they drew nearer their eyes met and Clarke smiled, slowing as they approached until they were standing facing each other in the glow of one of the lights along the path. 

“Hi” Clarke smiled, trying to control the butterflies in her stomach as she spoke.

“Clarke, you haven’t left campus yet.” It was a simple observation, though not unfriendly.

“No,” Clarke sighed, “I leave tomorrow. And what about you? Did you draw the short straw with exams?”

“Yes, I just turned in my last paper for the semester. I’m on my way to meet Anya now, she wants to celebrate.” 

“Congrats on your recent freedom”

“Thank you,” Lexa looked down, she seemed to be thinking about what to say next. “Your chemistry exam…. How was it?”

“It went well, I think your reputation as an excellent tutor will remain intact.” 

Lexa smiled a little at the praise, “I’m sure you did well. So long as you didn’t day dream and draw all over the exam paper.” There was some mischief in her eyes as she spoke.

Clarke feigned at taking offence to the statement, “Me? Daydream at such a time, how you could accuse me of such a thing.” She scoffed and looked up and off to the side pretending to be unable to look at someone who had insulted her so.

“My apologies, sky girl, I don’t know why I would think you capable of such a thing.” Lexa was teasing her right back, playing along.

The nickname brought Clarke back to when Lexa had first seen her drawings in her notebook, and then later when she had caught her sketching Lexa herself. 

“I have excellent concentration, especially when so much is at stake.” She looked shyly at Lexa, hoping she would take her meaning that she was referring to their bet and not only Clarke’s academics. 

Lexa seemed to take the hint, she looked a little embarrassed as she responded “No, I suppose you have proven yourself to be determined.” Lexa held her gaze as she spoke, her face soft and thoughtful.

After a moment neither knew what to say. Lexa looked on past Clarke in the direction she had been walking. Her face became slightly regretful.

“I should get going, Anya will be waiting for me.” 

“Of course,” Clarke's face fell for a moment as she thought of how this would be her goodbye to Lexa for the next few weeks. But she summoned a smile “Enjoy you holidays, Lexa. And thank you again.”

“You are welcome Clarke. I … I look forward to hearing how you did on the exam.” With that Lexa nodded and stepped away, she steps making a soft crunching sound in the fresh fallen snow. Clarke breathed out a sigh, watching her breath curl into the cold air. 

_So close._ She thought. _You were so close…_

She looked ahead but before she could take another step she was stopped by Lexa calling out. 

“Clarke…” Clarke turned. Lexa had turned and taken a few strides back towards her then hesitated.

“Yes?” She was confused, but Lexa seemed to have something she was struggling to say. She was looking mostly at the ground, only lifting her head when she spoke again.

“I… I, don’t care how you do on the exam.” Clarke felt her feet moving on their own accord, carrying her closer to Lexa until they were once again a few steps apart.

“Even if you don’t get the A, I was wondering… maybe you would like to… If you…” Lexa was looking at the ground as she spoke, nervous and stammering as she tried to speak.

“Would you…” 

Clarke dropped her shopping bags and stepped closer to Lexa, leaving only inches between them. Clarke reached out placing her hand on Lexa’s arm and coaxed her to look up.

Lexa tilted her head up to Clarke, she looked lost for words, fragile almost. But beautiful, so beautiful with the snowflakes landing in her dark air. Clarke didn’t need to hear anymore, she knew what Lexa was trying to say, her face said it all. Lexa had torn down her walls and made herself vulnerable to Clarke.

“Of course,” Clarke beamed at her, hoping to put the other girl at ease, trying to show her appreciation for how Lexa was opening up to her. Clarke squeezed her arm. “Anything you want.”

Lexa looked at her, snow clinging to her lashes as she blinked. Timidly she reached out to Clarke, putting one hand on her waist. Clarke knew that look, and she leaned forward bringing their lips together.

Lexa kissed her back, she felt fragile in Clarke’s arms but eager. She seemed relieved that Clarke had accepted her offer, whatever exactly it was she was trying to ask was still unclear but Clarke had understood that Lexa was telling her she wanted her.

Lexa’s hands clung to Clarke’s coat, pulling her closer and Clarke kissed back just as passionately. After a moment then pulled apart. Clarke leaned her forehead against Lexa’s and the stood holding each other their breath mixing into clouds between them.

“I’ll see you after the holidays?” Clarke asked.

“Yes,” Lexa responded, punctuating her response with a light kiss on Clarke’s lips.

“Perfect, then you should go meet Anya now so you don’t keep her waiting.” Clarke didn’t want to let Lexa go but it was easier now that she knew Lexa would be there for her when she came back.

“Alright,” Lexa leaned in again to give Clarke a goodbye kiss, “I’ll see you soon, sky girl.” They broke apart, and this time when Clarke picked up her bags to return to residence her heart was soaring.

Clarke practically skipped into her dorm room and shed her coat and dropped her presents on the bed. No sooner had she thrown herself down on the bed did Raven and Octavia burst into the room after her. 

Octavia practically squealed, and jumped on the bed next to Clarke “Clarke’s got a girlfriend!”

Raven smirked and added “We saw the whole thing from my window, nice job Griffin.” 

Clarke rolled her eyes, she was too happy to be phased by their intrusion on her moment. She simply beamed back at them. “Yea, isn’t she amazing?” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lexa arrived several minutes late to meet Anya at the bar.

“What took you so long.” Anya asked as Lexa seated herself on the stool removing her coat and hat.

“I ran into Clarke.” Something must have shown on her face as she said it because Anya immediately leaned over and nudged Lexa to say more.

“Oh, and?” Anya’s face was knowing. Lexa had never looked so happy or dreamy before.

“We’re going on a date after the holidays.” Lexa looked all but star stuck as she spoke.

Anya chuckled, affectionate for her friend. She was glad Lexa had found someone that made her so happy. 

“Took you long enough. You’ve been smitten with her for months.” Lexa shot her a look, displeased with Anya’s teasing.

“I’m happy for you Lexa. I’m glad you let someone in.” Anya signaled the bartender to bring them some drinks.

“Yea, well,” Lexa looked at the counter between then, “She’s special.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised I would finish this and I have! Thank you all so much for your patience.  
> I do hope you all enjoyed this, I just wanted to write something light and fluffy. Fell free to let me know how you feel in the comments and thank you for reading!
> 
> If you were wondering Clarke did ace her exam. And they lived happily ever after because they are soulmates.


End file.
